The Nightmares
by Philisnotonfirebecause
Summary: Steve and Tony aren't that close. At least, no until Tony finds Steve having a panic attack after having a nightmare and begins to look after him. The two open up to each other and show one another the sensitive side that no-one else in the country has ever seen before. Their relationship blossoms and becomes something more than just friendship.
1. Chapter 1 - Shaking and Sweating

The ice is getting closer. He's not really aware of what he's saying but he knows he's talking to Peggy. His could hear the blood pumping in his head. He can feel his body shaking. He can't move his eyes; they are stuck on the view in front of him. The massive expanse of ice growing closer and closer as every second ticks by; he can't have many seconds left. Just about to crash, to die, the ice so close to his face and suddenly nothing.

Steve shoots up into a sitting position in bed. His body is shaking and covered in sweat. He can hardly think; his mind still living in the nightmare, the memory. With no idea what time it is, his brain doesn't register the light shining through the blinds signalling the fact its morning. He sits there, shaking and sweating, sweating and shaking, trying to keep his incoming panic attack at bay.

"Steve! Meeting with Fury! Come on, get u- What's wrong?" Tony came bounding into the room, bouncing off the walls after clearly having too much caffeine. The minute he looks at Steve though, he becomes much more subdued, trying to figure out what's wrong with his friend.

Steve doesn't reply. He doesn't even react; just stays sitting there, staring at the same spot on his bed, still shaking and sweating. Tony instantly realises that something is seriously wrong with Steve. He crosses the room in 3 quick steps, sitting down next to Steve on his bed and putting his hand on his shoulder.

"Steve, talk to me. What's wrong?" Tony asked; his voice calm and quiet, his eyes gentle and searching, looking for clues as to what could be wrong.

"C-C-Cold" is all Steve manages to say in response. As he speaks his body begins to shake worse, almost as if he's having a fit. Tony instantly knows what's wrong; he's a genius after all, and he suffers from nightmares himself, he knows Steve is bound to as well. The only problem is he doesn't know how to make Steve feel better. Many ideas zoomed through his head as Tony desperately tried to figure out what to do.

Deciding what he was going to do, Tony asked Steve if he could stand. Steve didn't reply but began to move towards the edge of the bed. He was very shaky on his feet so Tony supported most of his body weight; he would have carried the super soldier if he could but he probably would've needed the suit for that.

He directed Steve towards the bathroom without saying a word to him. After setting Steve down on the toilet seat while he waited, Tony ran a warm bath for Steve. He was pretty sure he was going to have to bath Steve himself as Steve was in no condition to do so and Tony was worried he might accidently drown himself if left alone in the water. He decided against having bubbles, Steve wasn't a child and this was a pretty serious situation.

"Can you – erm – take your clothes off by your-yourself?" Tony glanced at Steve as he asked and Steve mumbled back saying "I think so" and began to take his t-shirt off. Tony looked back down at the bath as it continued to fill, watching the water rise, until he heard a crash. Looking up, he saw Steve had stumbled when he stood up to take his joggers off. Tony walked forward and took hold of him, keeping Steve upright as the latter slid his joggers down his legs and onto the floor. Steve was now stood in front of him wearing only a pair of tatty boxers. Tony felt his face flush as he looked away while Steve took his boxer off too.

Ignoring his growing embarrassment, Tony helped Steve towards the tub. Tony couldn't help but notice how little Steve cared that he was totally naked in front of his teammate. Tony was sure his face was glowing red as he helped Steve into the tub; the poor man was still shaking. He was beginning to wish he had put some bubbles in the bath, that way they might preserve Steve's dignity a little longer.

Steve sank his body down into the water, bending his legs at the knees, his eyes shut tight. Both men sat still for a minute; Steve with his eyes tight shut and Tony with his eyes watching Steve's abdomen. Slowly, Steve's body began to shake less and less as he warmed up, his face seemed to relax a bit more, even though his eyes still stayed tight shut. Tony let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding; seeing Steve begin to relax made him relax too.

Without really thinking about it, Tony reached across Steve and took a bottle of shampoo, squirting some onto his hand. Steve's eyes flickered open as Tony began to massage the shampoo into his hair. The look in his eyes was fear or surprise or shook though; it was content. Steve was happy to just lie there and let tony look after him. After a few minutes he rinsed the shampoo out of Steve's hair and touched the skin on his arm; Steve was much warmer now. Tony quickly left the room, mumbling something about fresh clothes and came back with a fresh pair of joggers, a t shirt and a pair of boxers in his hands. He helped Steve up out of the bath as he was still shaking a bit and dried him off, before helping him into his dry clothes. All of the earlier embarrassment seemed to have gone, now that Tony had spent some time around Steve naked.

Tony guided Steve out of the bathroom and back into his room, towards his bed. Pulling the covers back, he helped Steve into bed so he was nice and warm beneath the covers. After a moment's indecision, Tony climbed in after Steve, pulling the covers around them both. The second Tony lay down Steve turned to him and cuddled into his chest. The both lay there in silence for a few minutes until Steve finally broke it.

"Thank you" he whispered, barely audible. Tony didn't reply; instead he smiled and pulled Steve closer towards him. Tony couldn't help but think how annoyed Fury was going to be that they missed the meeting, but Steve was worth it. He didn't regret a single thing that had happened so far today. They both drifted off into sleep, wrapped in each other's arms.


	2. Chapter 2 - Fall Out

When Steve woke the next day, he was alone. He couldn't help feel a little disappointed that Tony's arms weren't still wrapped around his shoulders as he slept, but he tried to ignore it. He looked at the clock – 7:54am – and got up, deciding to stay in the clothes that Tony had dressed him in the day before. Tony must have left awfully early to leave; that thought making Steve feel slightly worse.

He left his room and ventured towards the kitchen, in search of his morning coffee. Walking into the kitchen, still bleary eyed, it took him a moment to notice there was already 2 people in the room. The first man was Bruce, sat at the breakfast bar sipping coffee, wearing a grey sweater and giving off the sleepy teenager vibe even though he definitely wasn't a teenager. The second man was, of course, Tony, wearing some oily joggers and dirty white tee. He was wide awake, and no coffee was in sight, even though Tony always had a coffee in the morning. This just rubbed it in further that Tony had been awake a very long time and left Steve ages ago. Deciding to stay quiet, Steve went straight for the coffee but before he got there Tony handed him one with an awkward smile on his face, which Steve returned.

"Mornin' Steve" Looking up from his coffee, Steve saw that it was Bruce who had spoken to him. Steve just offered a nod in his direction as a hello and went back to drinking his coffee. Tony was stood in the corner of the room, just looking down at his phone – not really doing anything but they didn't have to know that – while Steve stood staring into the bottom of his coffee cup. Being the smart person Bruce is, it didn't take him long to realise something was wrong between the two men, something had happened and he had no idea what.

"I don't know what's wrong between you two but I actively try to avoid drama so I'm gonna go and leave you two to sort out whatever – this – is" When he said 'this' he waved his arms around a bit, gesturing between the two men. As soon as he finished talking he got up and left the room, coffee cup still in hand.

Steve and Tony glanced up at each other awkwardly, then both looked back down while laughing awkwardly. It took a minute before Steve finally broke the silence.

"Sorry, about – about yesterday. I – I didn't mean for you to see me like – like that – for you to – to look after me. I just –" Steve was stammering, clearly flustered and waving his free hand about as he spoke. Tony cut him off before he could get any worse.

"Steve, buddy, it's okay. Don't worry about it. I get nightmares too sometimes; we all need a little looking after occasionally. I just can't believe I gave you a bath, I saw you naked" Tony spoke with a slight hysterical/amused laugh. He didn't mind what had happened yesterday, it was just a bit strange between the two of them now. Steve blushed bright red at Tony's words, remembering how Tony had even helped him get undressed and dressed again. Tony quickly noticed Steve's embarrassment.

"It's okay, I didn't mind helping you. I thought it was kind of sweet to be honest" Now it was Tony's turn to blush as Steve looked up at him, unable to keep the surprise and hope out of his eyes. Tony laughed quietly when he saw the look on Steve's face, unable to push the thought that Steve looked adorable like that from his mind.

"You – You thought it was… Sweet?" Steve questioned, unable to keep the mixture of confusion and hope out of his voice.

Tony didn't reply at first. He simply stepped forwards towards Steve until there was only about 10 inches between them and smiled up at him; then he spoke. "Yeah, sweet. And kind of adorable, especially for someone like you Steve, whose known for being strong and able to protect themselves. It's nice to see you've got a soft side." Tony's voice was a whisper; he didn't need to speak any louder as he was so close to the taller man.

Steve blushed again, but this time he was smiling as well. He inched forward a little more so that the gap between them was ow only about 6 inches wides. Tony smiled back up at him, eyes glued to Steve's. The next thing Steve knew, Tony's hand was coming up to cup the back of Steve's neck and pulling his face down towards his. Even though he knew it was coming, Steve was still surprised when Tony's lips landed on his. He was shocked for a moment, his eyes wide open, before he finally accepted what was happening and closed his eyes, leaning into the kiss.

Steve's lips were full and soft whilst Tony's were full yet chapped. They fitted together perfectly as Steve's arms wrapped around Tony's waist whilst Tony's right arm snaked around the back of the taller man's neck and his left hand was grabbing at his t-shirt. Steve had always known he had liked Tony in a way that wasn't friendship, but he'd never really been able to define what it was, but now he knew. It was this, this was what he wanted.

Tony moaned into the taller man's mouth, making Steve tighten his grip on Tony's waist, pulling him closer. They were both so lost in the moment that neither of them noticed Natasha and Clint walk in. The two master assassins stood in the doorway, waiting for them to notice. Clint was stood slightly behind Natasha, an expression of shock covered his face while Natasha, who had known this was how the two men felt about each other for ages without them actually telling her, stood there with a smug little smile on her face, her arms crossed.

After letting the two men enjoy themselves for a few more minutes, Natasha decides the alert them to their presence. She coughs and the two men jump away from each other and look in their direction. The looks on their faces is enough to tell them they've seen everything.

"How – how long have you been there?" Steve asks, blushing.

"About 5 minutes, you looked as if you were having fun…" Natasha's smug smile widens at their shock. "Don't worry, its cute." She says as she walks past them to grab herself and Clint a coffee each. Tony turns back to Steve, whose still bright red with embarrassment, and shrugs.

"C'mon Steve, we've got some stuff to figure out." Taking Steve's hand in his, he leads the taller man out of the kitchen and towards his own bedroom.


	3. Chapter 3 - Just Getting Started

Tony was still high from Steve's lips but now he was beginning to think. Him and Steve were about to have a pretty serious conversation and Tony tried to avoid serious conversations like the Black Plague. Normally, if he was with a girl, then this 'serious conversation' would always lead to sex in a matter of minutes - that was Tony's kind of conversation. But the closer they got to the room the more Tony thought who he was with. This was Captain America, the world's golden boy, he wouldn't just be interested in a quick shag like all those female fans. He was going into a conversation about their relationship and boundaries and how their lives were going to revolve around this. This conversation was going to be a proper conversation and Tony wasn't so sure if he was okay with that.

Steve seemed to pick up on Tony's panic, it was written all over his face after all, and knew he'd have to be a bit more gentle during this conversation. He didn't want to scare Tony away, he really liked him but at the same time they needed to sort out whatever this was. Tony's hand was still in his as they walked towards his room. Steve knew why Tony was nervous, it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out! Everyone in the tower had seen Tony with a different girl every night and everyone had heard all the jokes about Tony just 'talking' to the girls when he was trying to play down what he'd done the night before. This was probably the first time Tony had ever had a proper conversation with anyone about relationships! Once outside Tony's bedroom door, Steve paused and turned around to face Tony, taking both his hands in his.

"Are you okay, Tony?" Tony looked up at Steve's face when he heard his name. Steve had concern written all over his face as he looked down at Tony, their faces only a few inches apart. Tony's face was a few shades paler than usual and his eyes were dotting about all over the place, as if looking for some invisible enemy. After a few seconds his eyes settled on Steve's face. He didn't say anything, just nodded. They stood there for a few moments, not speaking, holding each other's hands, before opening the door and walking into Tony's room.

The room was huge, but messy. There were bit of metal, screws, and half built gadgets lying on every surface; his desk, the shelves, the floor and even some on his bed. Steve looked around, his eyes taking in everything that he saw. He could have spent hours looking at everything, despite not knowing what any of it was supposed to do. Tony was stood near the bed, wringing his hands and watching Steve's eyes travel across the room. Quickly realising he was ignoring Tony, Steve turned his attention back to him. He took the few steps towards him and took his hand, guiding him to sit down on the edge of the bed as he did the same.

"You don't have to be so nervous Tony, I'm not going to attack you…" Steve said softly, still holding Tony's hand. The smaller man was still obviously nervous but he knew Steve would never even consider hurting him. They both sat in silence for a few minutes as neither man really knew what to say. They knew what they needed to talk about but neither knew how to start that conversation. After a few minutes it was Steve who broke the silence.

"How long have you..?" He didn't finish the question before he started to blush. Tony mentally scolded himself, as force of habit, for unconsciously noting how adorable Steve looked when he was embarrassed, before realising that it was probably okay to think about him this way now, given the circumstances.

"Liked you? A while now, maybe a couple of months." Tony's voice got quieter and quieter as he spoke, realising how vulnerable he really was right now. Steve could completely reject him right now, laugh at him and tell everyone all about how Tony had poured his heart out to him and how he'd made him look like an idiot. Deep down Tony knew that Steve would never do anything like that, he was a good guy, America's golden boy, but that didn't stop all his irrational thoughts from flying around his brain.

Steve blushed again. He wasn't used to having this sort of conversation with people, especially with Tony of all people. It had been a long time since he'd let himself love someone, or even just date casually. His life was too dangerous to let him get close to anyone. He'd learnt that the hard way when he'd courted Peggy. But Tony's life was just as dangerous as his was, and that had never stopped Tony from dating, or at least having one night stands, so why should it stop Steve?

"And you?" Tony whispered, silently praying that Steve would say a similar answer and not something along the lines of rejecting him.

"I didn't realise it until yesterday when you were looking after me, but I, er, noticed you awhile ago" Steve was looking down at both his hands and blushing while he spoke. Tony noticed that Steve blushed all the way down his neck and couldn't help wondering if Steve was a full body blusher. He quickly pushed the thought from his mind, now was a time to be serious. Imagining Steve naked, as fun as it would be, wouldn't help this conversation.

"So, er… what now?" Tony whispered, glancing at Steve.

"Well, we both 'like' each other, so, erm, we could date? Like officially? Or just keep it casual? Or… or not?" Steve was getting more and more flustered the more he spoke so decided to just shut up. Realising that Steve was just as anxious about all this as he was, Tony began to feel much better about all this, knowing that Steve wasn't going to hurt him, and his nerves started to decrease.

"Let's not label it, okay? That way there's no pressure, on either of us?" Steve looked up at him as Tony spoke, a small smile spreading across his face as he nodded. Tony smiled back, then after a moment's hesitation, leaned forward and gave Steve a quick kiss on the lips. Once he'd pulled away he kept his face only a few inches from Steve's as he smiled at him, all his nerves finally gone. He could finally kiss Steve whenever he wanted - given that Steve was okay with it that is - and Steve wouldn't push him away.

Steve smiled back at him, then leaned forward and kissed Tony properly, pulling him closer. He slipped his arms around Tony's waist and pulled him closer so that Tony was sat on his lap. Tony wrapped his arms around Steve's neck, one hand intertwining in Steve's hair. Tony couldn't help but think about how right this felt, how natural. All he'd wanted for the past few months was to be able to do this, and now he was he couldn't believe it. Tony hadn't felt this happy in a long time.

Neither had Steve. Apart from Tony, he hadn't kissed anyone in a very long time. There had been a few girls he had begun getting close to since defrosting, but it was difficult to find someone with shared experiences so nothing ever happened. It had never felt quite right, not since Peggy, but this did. Maybe every girl since had reminded him too much of Peggy but at the same time reminded him that he could never have her? Maybe it was something else entirely, he wasn't sure. But what he did know for sure was that this felt right. Maybe, being with Tony gave him the change he needed. Maybe, Tony was just different enough that he wouldn't make him think of Peggy every time he looked at him and instead make him think of how happy he could be with this man.

Both men were completely oblivious to their surroundings, not that there was anything worth noticing. Tony had changed position so he was straddling Steve's lap, his knees resting on the bed on either side of Steve's hips. They were both getting quite heated, and this position gave them the pressure both men were beginning to need so desperately. Steve's hands were beginning to pull at Tony's shirt more and more as Tony's hands were getting more and more violent with Steve's hair.

Steve was just beginning to unbutton Tony's shirt as he moved his lips down to his neck, gently biting and kissing Tony's skin as he went. Tony was gasping as Steve's teeth dug into his skin repeatedly. The last button on Tony's shirt had been undone and Steve pushed it down over his shoulders and onto the floor. He brought his lips away from Tony and took a minute to take in his naked torso. Tony took the opportunity to begin planting little kisses along Steve's jaw, causing Steve to let out a little moan as his eyes fluttered shut.

-BANG BANG BANG-

"GUYS! TONY?" Natasha shouted through the door. Steve leaned back, removing his hands from Tony and using them to prop himself up, as Tony rested his forehead on Steve's shoulder as swore quietly.

"GUYS! FURY NEEDS YOU! SAYS YOU'RE NEEDED IN SOKOVIA!" She shouted again after getting no response.

"YES YES OKAY jesus" Tony shouted back, incredibly frustrated. Both men looked at each other and sighed. Tony gave Steve a quick kiss on the lips before he got off his lap and stood up, taking Steve's hand and pulling him up with him.

"I guess we better get suited up then" Steve spoke softly, still holding Tony's hand.

"And here I was thinking we should be doing the opposite…" Tony replied with a cheeky grin on his face. Steve laughed before turning away, heading off to get ready for battle.

-XOXOX-

Flying overhead, Tony could see everything going on down below. He was focused on the fight, shooting at the enemy from above, but he was still keeping an eye on Steve. Tony could distance himself from the action, shooting down the enemies from afar, but Steve was always right there in the middle of the action, throwing punches left right and center. There was always much more chance of Steve getting hurt than Tony. Of course, Tony had been getting more and more protective of Captain America, despite knowing he could handle himself amazingly well in a fight, but now that Steve was his, that protective instinct seemed to multiply.

Steve was right there in the middle of the action now. Surrounded by numerous enemies, throwing his shield to take out the ones furthest away and punching and kicking the closer ones. It was amazing to watch him fight, he certainly knew what he was doing, but that didn't stop Tony from worrying about him. The enemies were dropping, one by one, as both men slowly took them out. Every now and again Steve would get hit and he'd stumble, sometimes fall. But he'd get back up again and continue fighting.

It took a few hours to completely finish the job and now both men were completely tired out. Tony was emotionally drained too, being constantly worried about someone is tiring, and he'd been worried about Steve during the fight. They didn't say much on the journey back, both of them were too tired.

"You don't have to worry you know…" Steve was the first one to talk, making Tony jump. He looked at him, surprised, believing he'd kept him emotions a secret. "It's written all over your face. You've been looking at me with the same expression on your face in almost every fight we've had over the past few months but over the last few days I put two and two together…" Steve's voice trailed off, blushing as he spoke.

"I can't help it, you mean a lot to me and I don't want you to get hurt. But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop you from fighting. You're Captain America, you know what you're doing" Tony said, saying much more than he was expecting himself to, but realising it was true as he said it.

Steve smiled, he was tired too and covered in cuts and bruises. He needed to sleep. So that's what he did. Jarvis was piloting the quinjet as they were both to tired to do so. Steve laid down, his head resting on Tony's lap and closed his eyes. Tony's hand absentmindedly stroked Steve's hair as the bigger man fell asleep. Steve's breath evened out and Tony knew he was sleeping. He smiled to himself and closed his eyes. A few hours sleep wouldn't do him any harm either.


End file.
